Kathmandu

Fourteen women have been elected to Nepal's House of Representatives in the recently concluded parliamentary elections, accounting for just over eight per cent of the total seats.

Of the 14 winners, 13 belong to the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP), while one seat was secured by the Nepali Congress.

Women’s representation has improved compared to the previous elections held in 2022, when only nine women candidates were elected, making up 5.45 per cent of the House.

Nepal’s Constitution requires that women hold at least 33 per cent representation in Parliament, but political parties have not yet achieved this target.

With 14 women elected through the direct voting system, their representation currently stands at about 8.48 per cent.

The House of Representatives has 275 seats, of which 165 members are chosen through direct elections and 110 through proportional representation.

The highest number of women elected through direct voting was 30 during the 2008 Constituent Assembly election, when the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) emerged as the largest party after joining mainstream politics following the peace process that ended a decade-long insurgency.

Among the notable winners this time is Indira Ranamagar of the RSP, who defeated Dev Raj Ghimire of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) by 48,742 votes, securing 60,110 votes against his 11,368.

Rubina Acharya of the RSP defeated senior Nepali Congress leader Shekhar Koirala by a wide margin, receiving 55,513 votes compared with his 12,850.

Another RSP candidate, Sobita Gautam, defeated Renu Dahal of the Nepal Communist Party, daughter of former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as “Prachanda”.

Gautam secured 59,277 votes, while Dahal—who resigned as mayor of Bharatpur Metropolitan City to contest the polls—received 20,615 votes.

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Other women elected include Nisha Dangi, Asha Jha, Pushpa Kumari Chaudhari, Gauri Kumari, Nitima Bhandari, Ashika Tamang, Ranju Neupane, Toshima Karki, Bina Gurung and Komal Gyawali from the RSP, and Vasana Thapa from the Nepali Congress.